Asd Employees Want Monetary 'Pat On Back'

July 01, 1986|by TOM LOWRY, The Morning Call

A survey on incentives given to Allentown School District employees indicates the employees would like an occasional "pat on the back," but they want money to go with it, a district official said last night.

Dr. Samuel Miller, an assistant superintendent, said about half of those workers filling out surveys during the last month ranked money as a top incentive.

The survey was distributed to the district's 1,500 employees from the superintendent to cafeteria workers. It asked them to rank a list of incentives, including mini-grants, flex days and perfect attendance awards. A section also allowed them to fill out "other" incentives not listed.

Miller, who wrote and calculated the survey, said most of the "other" incentives jotted down by employees entailed getting more money.

The survey was given at the request of an ad hoc committee looking at ways to enhance the performance of district employees. The committee is made up of teachers, administrators, School Board members, police officers and businessmen.

Money issues, though, are only allowed to be discussed by bargaining units during contract negotiationsand cannot be addressed by the committee.

Fifty-four percent of the instructional staff - teachers and administrators - filled out the one-page survey, as did 24 percent of the service staff - from secretaries to custodians.

Miller said the 54 percent response is a "good indication" of how the entire instructional staff would rank the incentives. The low response of 24 percent, though, is not an accurate indication for the service staff. "I wouldn't hang my hat on it," Miller said.

Excluding money incentives, those incentives ranked the highest by the instructional staff were attending conferences related to work, flex days during which a teacher can travel to develop his or her specialty and mini- grants.

The most popular incentive for the service staff who filled out the survey was setting cooperative goals with a supervisor.

Miller suggested that the non-money incentives could be combined with giving an employee extra money under an incentive program. For example, a teacher might be rewarded for a job well done by being allowed to attend a conference, but at the same time the teacher would receive a check, Miller said.